


waves of change

by falloutmars



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, F/M, Fluff, Kinda, a rollercoaster tbh, and a bit into the future, but happy ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-13
Updated: 2020-07-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 01:07:30
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,151
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25245874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/falloutmars/pseuds/falloutmars
Summary: Some of the changes in his life have been down to him, some haven’t, but he’s learning to accept that not everything needs to be in his control. Sometimes good things can happen when he isn’t in control, and sometimes bad things can happen when he is. That’s life. That’s something he’s coming to terms with.–or, Jughead experiences many changes in his life, but there's one thing that stays the same.
Relationships: Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones
Comments: 12
Kudos: 35
Collections: 8th Bughead Fanfiction Awards - Nominees





	waves of change

Change.

Change is something Jughead has had to deal with all of his life. 

At 4, his mother announces that she’s pregnant with an _actual baby_. A baby to be born into their tiny 2-bed trailer on the so-called bad side of town. A baby who would take all of his parents’ attention away from him, as well as his space. He doesn’t want it. His life _is_ good, as good as a four-year-old can understand, and he doesn’t want it to change.

At 5, Forsythia arrives. Nicknamed by him as Jellybean, it’s the one thing he’s actually allowed to do when it comes to his baby sister. It’s strange, at first, having her at home. She cries a lot and distracts him from whatever second-hand video game his dad has managed to snatch from the local store. She makes his – well, _their_ , he supposes – parents shout more, too. So as much as he gets used to having her around, he doesn’t _like_ it.

At 6, he starts school. He heard his dad yelling to his mom that she should’ve sent him earlier, but she was on maternity leave with Jellybean, so he had an extra few months. He’s pleased he did if he’s honest. He’s just had one big change in his life and school’s an even bigger one.

But he’s still terrified.

On his first day, he tugs his crown-shaped beanie over his head, hiding his messy hair. His grandmother had knitted it for him for his 6th birthday, but he’d never had the urge to wear it until now. It can be his safety blanket, he thinks as he wanders through the vast school gates towards a sea of unfamiliar faces.

For the first activity, the teacher makes them do, they have to introduce themselves to various classmates around the room, asking one question. 

Jughead’s shy, almost unbelievably so. He’d rather hide behind his beanie and in the corner away from everyone else. But when a confident blonde comes bouncing over to him, he can’t help but talk to her.

“Hi!” she greets in a cheery manner, launching her hand out towards him. “I’m Betty.”

Confused, he remembers seeing his mom secretly hold people’s hands when she didn’t think he was looking, so he shoves his hand towards hers, gripping onto it. 

She moves it up and down a few times, smiling sweetly at him, before she drops it.

His eyes fall to her name tag. He’s been reading a lot more recently, but he’s still not great. Regardless, he can tell that her name tag definitely does not say what she just told him her name is.

“That doesn’t say Betty,” he says, pointing.

Shaking her head, she frowns. “My mom calls me Elizabeth but I prefer Betty.”

“My name’s like that!” he practically shrieks. “My mom calls me Forsythe when she shouts at me, but I want to be called Jughead.”

Betty grins at him. “Don’t worry, I’ll only call you Jughead.”

He grins back, never doubting her for a second.

The change that is starting school is met with the change that is meeting Betty Cooper. Some good, some bad. But life will never be the same again after that, even if 6-year-old Jughead doesn’t realize it.

–

At 15, he returns home from school one day to find an empty trailer. That’s not a rare occurrence if he’s honest. He’s old enough now to realize his dad sneaking off isn’t to work, like he’d been led to believe, but to the local hangout of the Southside’s gang, the Serpents. It bothers him, mainly because he knows how much everyone at school would tease him for it if they found out. Everyone except Betty, of course.

And so he doesn’t ever expect his father to be home. Often his mother will be out with Jellybean, which leads him to just believe they’ll all be home later.

Until they don't return. Until he realizes that his sister’s toys are missing, and his mom has taken the car keys. Until his father comes stumbling in when he’s making himself a sandwich in lieu of dinner.

He’s drunk, of course, muttering something about _they’re gone, Jug, and it’s all my fault_ before passing out on the sofa. It’s the first time Jughead has to deal with that himself. Usually, his mom would sort it out, but now he’ll have to be the man of the house, he supposes. 

He puts FP in the recovery position, just in case, and sets a glass of water and a pack of tablets on the coffee table for when he wakes up. 

That night, he has to face the biggest change of his life so far.

–

At 16, he gets the chance to make a change himself. 

In a way, he’s more terrified than ever before even though he’s in charge. He’s in charge of his actions, he’s aware of the potential change he could cause – both positive and negative – but his fate is very much in someone else’s hands. The hands of Betty Cooper.

His best friend of, well, basically forever, and his crush of the past few years. (He’d be lying if he said he didn’t know exactly how long because he _does_. Down to the exact date he realized he liked Betty in more than just a friendly way. But he doesn’t want to admit that.)

One day, he decides that he’s sat on the knowledge for long enough. It’s all or nothing, really. Either she likes him back and they can… If he’s honest, he’s not sure. Date? If that’s what Betty wants, he’ll do anything. But on the flip side, she could _not_ like him back. It was, after all, just a few months ago where she confessed her love to Archie, who rejected her ( _god_ knows why), so undoubtedly she still likes him, _not_ Jughead. 

_You’ll never know if you never try,_ he tells himself. Which, actually, is very good advice. And something he’s trying to remember more recently. 

So, on one fateful day, he climbs a ladder to Betty’s room with the intent of making a change for himself. 

It takes everything he’s got, but when she kisses back, it’s all worth it.

–

At 17, he feels fully in charge of his own dwindling fate. Every change in his life is down to him and his actions, no one else’s. In reality, he’s just a teenager who’s had his life ripped apart by distinctly _not_ his actions. His father going to prison for something he may or may not have done wasn’t his fault, getting forced into his father’s gang wasn’t his fault, nor was it his choice. But it felt like it _was_. 

Really, everything just… happened.

Change after change, he struggles with the lack of power, so he does the one thing in his power. The one thing that can hurt himself, that can make him feel like he’s in the driving seat no matter the reality. 

He breaks up with Betty Cooper.

He tells himself that it’s for her safety time after time, so much so that he manages to believe it. He tricks himself into believing she _isn’t_ strong enough to fight whatever hell he’s going through.

It breaks his heart, telling her to go home. 

“How many times, Jug?” she says through tears. “How many times are we going to push each other away?”

He composes himself, puts on that faux brave persona he gets from his ratty leather jacket, and spits, “Until it sticks.”

As he walks away, he thinks about what he has just done. What change he has forced upon himself when she was oh-so willing to stick by him. 

The tears he’d tried to hold back begin to fall.

–

At 18, he and Betty find their way back to one another. It’s a change he needs, badly, but one he’s surprised to get. He doesn’t think he deserves her, but for some reason, he gets her.

And god does he love her.

He loves her more than anything. He loves her for dragging him out of the rut he’d found himself in that consisted of bad decisions and an overload of change. She dragged him back to reality with enough time to get his shit together for college applications and finals. 

They do everything as a pair. 

When they get back together, they make a pact to stick together. For good, this time. Life apart isn’t worth it, it doesn’t _work_. They need one another, through thick and thin.

So that’s how it goes. It’s a good change for him until it isn’t.

It goes pear-shaped when they get accepted into colleges hours apart. Her Yale, him Syracuse. It’s a 4 and a half hour drive, almost 300 miles, but that’s too much. They might as well be going to different planets, accessible through a journey by only rocket. 

Jughead feels as if he’s gone back to that time where change was out of his control, where he was a small child, wanting to be immune to everything around him. Yet now an adult, he cannot hide away. 

“Betts,” he mumbles, poking her shoulder gently. She’s sitting next to him on the sofa in her house while they watch a movie. He can’t concentrate, though, distracted by the hamster wheel of his brain. 

She looks over at him, a softness in his eyes that only he sees. “You okay?”

He nods automatically, then sighs, and shakes his head with a small shrug. 

“What does that mean?” she asks, no hint of humor or accusation in her voice. He’d understand if there was, but there isn’t. Just… gentle. Asking in a Betty-like manner, evident that she genuinely cares about the answer. 

“Honestly, I don’t know.” He chuckles, but it’s empty. “I’m just scared, I guess.”

She takes his hand in hers, threading their fingers together. “Of what?”

With a deep breath, he decides the truth is the way forward. “The future,” he forces out, avoiding her eye. 

“You know, Juggie,” she says, shifting closer to him, “no matter what, you’ll have me. Forever and always, right? Because I love you so much and I am not letting you go ever again.”

In response, he leans forward and connects their lips. He puts everything he has into the kiss. As if it’s their first, as if it’s their last. 

When they part, he’s less afraid of the imminent change. 

“I love you, too,” he mumbles against her lips.

–

At 26, hardly anything is the same. Some of the changes in his life have been down to him, some haven’t, but he’s learning to accept that not everything needs to be in his control. Sometimes good things can happen when he isn’t in control, and sometimes bad things can happen when he is. That’s life. That’s something he’s coming to terms with.

And it’s something he works on with Betty by his side. 

One of the only things in his life that has stayed the same is her. Since they were 6 years old, she’s been there. If he’s honest, she’s the only thing he _wants_ to stay the same. She’s the constant he wished for all his life, yet never realized was there all along.

After four tough years spent miles apart, they make it out the other side, stronger both together and individually. They move away from their respective college cities and away from their hellish hometown of Riverdale in favor of Seattle. Far away from their pasts, it’s a fresh start for a brighter future. 

They settle into a modern townhouse with enough room to grow into. It’s a great kind of change for Jughead, something he thinks he’s always needed but never necessarily got. 

At least, not until now. 

He finally secures his dream of becoming a published author, while Betty paves the way as a psychologist, giving teens the help she needed but never got at their age. 

Everything is good. Wonderful, even.

Except for one final change Jughead wants to make.

It’s a warm summer’s day in their new hometown. A rare day off during the week for the pair of them. And he takes full advantage of it. 

Waking Betty up with a cooked breakfast, he tells her to put on her favorite summery dress for something he has planned. She does, and he drives them the short distance to a secluded beach, the weight of a small velvet box in his pocket constantly reminding him of what he’s about to do.

Once there, they walk hand in hand along the length of the sand, laughing and smiling with one another.

When they get to what he deems an appropriate place – no other people, clean sand, clear sea – he takes a deep breath, pulling the box out of his pocket.

He gets down on one knee. 

“Betty Cooper, will you marry me?”

_~fin._

**Author's Note:**

> thank you so much for reading!! please let me know your thoughts so i can continue to thrive on ao3 emails.


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